By Mike Burnell: Welterweight kingpin Manny Pacquiao. With power that belies his frame his has hacked a bloody swath through a proverbial jungle of opponents covering a 24 pound span and 9 weight classes. He has collected titles in 5 of those 9 divisions from ‘mainstream’ sanctioning bodies, 6 if you include the IBO Light Welterweight trinket. With a professional record of 49-3-2 (37) the hero from the Philippines has certainly earned his hard fought reputation as the current pound for pound champion. He is Ring Magazine’s Junior Welterweight champion.
Pacquiao has met the best competition available and defeated virtually all of his opponents. In 2006 Pac reversed a slim decision loss to Eric Morales at 130 pounds with an emphatic 10th round TKO, removing any doubt of his dominance. He has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he is indeed a legend incarnate and is justifiably recognized as such. Manny is a member of a very elite club of champions who have carried their punching power through the divisions and didn’t suffer mobility or ability to absorb a punch from a larger foe. It can be described as nothing less than amazing that Pac would have his first professional bout at 106 pounds and emphatically destroy Ricky Hatton; a very formidable, larger foe and conqueror of Kostya Tszyu in his most recent effort at the limit of 140 pounds.
Henry Armstrong first got paid to punch in 1931 and promptly lost three out of his first four fights including his first bout via knockout to trivia question Al Lovino. In the world that Pac-Man dominates Armstrong’s meager beginning would be a death sentence to an aspiring boxer’s career. This would be a tragedy of sorts, denying die hard fans of what would become an epic, legendary journey celebrated by fans and historians for generations. Ultimately “Homicide” Hank would endure in a culture when being a full time fighter meant fighting bi-weekly and the Las Angeles resident endured to do the impossible. In a day when there were no fractured titles, gaggles of greedy sanctioning groups or countless “contenders” Armstrong held world titles in three weight classes with one champion per weight class.
As completely ludicrous as it is, the most “recognized” (I shrink at using the word legitimate as they are anything but…) titles in the alphabet soup are WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. If you break out the calculator you will find those 17 divisions and four “champs” produces 68 “World Champions” and there are even more laughably obscure divisions that would add to this number exponentially. Henry Armstrong was the only undisputed champion of the world in three of nine divisions at the same time; nine divisions, one champion per division, unparalleled. Mathematically this amounts to the slender Armstrong reigning supreme over thirty three percent of the entire boxing world at the same time. It is an important distinction that Armstrong did not attempt to negotiate any catch weight bouts. He was cut from the cloth that if you want the champions’ title you meet him within the boundaries of his weight class, may the best man win.
Impressively this is occurred in an age where there were only nine weight divisions in stark contrast to today’s sloppy landscape… Despite his modest beginning his final record of 149-21-10 (101) is littered with victories over an assortment of great fighters. Notoriously dirty fighter Fritzie Zivic, Lew Jenkins, Barney Ross, Lou Ambers, Chalky Wright, Baby Amizendi, Midget Wolgast among other top contenders fell victim to the whirlwind style of Henry Armstrong. In 1943 in his tenth year as a professional Armstrong took on all time pound for pound champion Sugar Ray Robinson at Robinson’s prime weight of 145 pounds dropping a 10 round decision.
In a day of PPV charging 30 dollars or more for nameless fighters vs. nameless fighters on an under card with the “headliner” being of the son of a legend we have to recognize how distorted and greedy boxing has become. The greatest Heavyweight bout in history between Smokin Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali was aired on public television. Manny Pacqiuao is one of the very few that are worth paying for today.
It can be said that everything evolves (or de-volves in some cases) and boxing is no exception. Manny Pacquiao is not a legend on the same level as Henry Armstrong. It is not a criticism to his courage or achievements; he is an unfortunate victim of circumstance. It is beyond Pac’s control but in the time and age that we are in he is achieving at the highest level possible however the disputes between the feuding greedy promoters are more concerned with their wallets while the true fighters want to fight the best and cement their own legacy.
Observe possible history in the making. Respect and reflect on the unparalleled achievements of past and draw your own conclusions.
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